Door latch



W.: A. STEFFEN.

noos LATCH. APPLICATON FILED SEIIT. 9 1920.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.`

WLLIAM A. STEFEN, OF CRETE, NEBRASKA.

DOOR LATCH.

To all whom it may concern.' A

Be it known that I, VILLIAM A. S'rnrrnn, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Crete, in the county of Saline and State of proved means for latching the doubledoors of a barn," garage 'or other building, and constructed and arrangedso that both doors canV Vbe simultaneously latched and unlatched. i c.

Another object is the provision of swinging latches. for the two doors, one of-whlch latches is manuallyl operable, and novel means being provided whereby the movement of. the manually-operable latch will move the latch of the other door for simultaneously latching and unlatching both doors.

l A furtherobject is 'the provision of slid- 'such a latching ing latch bolts for the ,two doors, `one of which is manually-operable, and novel means 'being' provided whereby the other latch is controlled by the'manually-operable .latch for simultaneously latching and vun- Vlatchingwboth doors., l

A still further object is the provisiony of device which will not only latch both doors in -closed position, `but which will also 'support the doors against sagging when in closed position.

With the foregoing and other objects 1n view,l which will be apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and'claimed, itV being understood that changes can be made within the scope of what is claimed Iwithout departing4 from the spirit oftheinventionr Theinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein i Fig. 1 is-an elevation of the latchmg device, portions of the doors being broken away, showing the latches in released position.

. Fig. 2 `is a fragmentary elevation of vthe swinging latches showing the same in latchin position.

- he present latching device is intended Specification of Letters Patent.

Alower end of the lever Patented J an. 31, 1922.

Application filed September 9, 1920. lSerial No. 409,059,

for the doubledoors 4 and 5 garage or similar structure, and vis preferably used on the inner side of the` doors.

n carrying out the invention, there is provided a latch lever 6 fulcrumed, near its upper end, to a bracket 7, secured to the door 4as at 8, and the'upper-short arm of the lever 6 comprises one swinging latch, beingprovided with a'terminal hook 9,y which is movable into a keeper "10 carried arranged near the upper edge ofthe door 4, with the keeper 10 depending from the lintel of the door frame, and the lower long arm of the lever 6 has a terminal handle 11 for conveniently swinging said lever toengage the hook 9 ,in and disengage it from the'keeper 10. y v l 'y A second latch lever ,12, shorter than the lever 6,' is ulcrumed betweenits ends to a bracket 13, secured, as at 14, to the doorv 5 near the upper edge thereof, and the upper of a barn,

. by the door frame. As shown, the lever 6 is armrofthe lever 12 constitutes. a swinging latch,.having the terminal hook'l, similar to the hook 9, which lis movable into a keeper 16 depending ltrom the lintel of the .door frame. The keepers 10'and'1'6 comprise eye bolts, or the like, and both leversG and 12 are swingable in the same direction vinto and out of engagement with. Ithe keepers.' A leaf spring 17 is secured to the bracket 13 bears against the lower-arm of the leverV 12, for disengaging the hook 15 from the keeper 16, when the lever 12is free topswing.

In order to swing the vlever 12 with the lever 6, when the doorsare closed, a horizontal push bar -18 is slidable in a guide 19 secured to the door 4 near the vertical edge thereof adjacent to the door 5, and one end thereof is pivotally connectedto the lower arm of the lever 6, wherebyy said bar 18 is slid by thelever 16 when said lever is swung. The bar 18 is movable under the 12, and .has an upstanding lug 20 at its upper 'edge movable into a notch 21 in the lower end of the lever 12 against a lug 22 of said lever at one side of the notch. Thus, when the keeper 6 is swung to ymove the hook 9 into the keeper 10, the bar 18 is moved withvthe lever 6, whereby the lugv 20 in engaging in the notch 2l and contacting withthe lug 22, willswing the lower arm of the lever 12 in the same direction as the lower arm of the lever `6, vthereby moving the hook 15 into the keeper 16, so that both swinging ously with the latch hook 9. Thus, a vertical rod 25 has its lower end secured to the latch bolt 23, and is slidable in a guide 26 secured to the door 4, and the upper end of said rod 25 is pivotally connected to one arm of a bell-crank lever 27, having its elbow fulcrumed to the door 4, as at 23, while the other arm of the lever 27 is connected by a link 29 with the lower arm of the lever 6. Thus, when `the lever 6 is swung to move the hook9 into the keeper 10, the lever 27 is swung to depress the rod 25 and move the latch bolt 23 downwardly to latching position.

A vertically slidable latch bolt 3() is also provided for the door 5, adjacent to the latch bolt 23, and is slidable in guides 31 secured to the door 5. .The lioor or sill underneath the doors has recesses or keepers 32 for the entrance of the bolts, to 'latch the lower edges of the doors. A coiled wire spring 23 surrounds the-bolt 30 and is conlined between the lower guide 31 and a shoulder 34 on the bolt 30 whereby to raise the bolt 30 to kreleasing position when tree to do so.

In order to simultaneously move the latch 30 into latching position with the latch bolt 23, the bolt 26 has a' lug 35 extending` over a lug 36 projecting from bolt 30, so that the lug 35 in contacting with the lug 36 during the downward movement of the bolt 23, will move the bolt 30 downwardly also,

whereby both bolts simultaneously enter the recesses or keepers 32.

In operation, when the doors 4. and 5 are closed, the door 4 being closed iirst, so that the door 5 can be closed without interfering with the bar 18 and lug 35 which project beyond the edge of the door 4, the lever 6 in being swung will manually move Vthe hook 9 into the keeper 10 and the bolt 23 downwardly into its keeper. The movement of the lever 6 will slide the bar 18, whereby the lever 12 is simultaneously swung with the lever 6, to move the hook 15 into the keeper 16, and the bolt 30 is also depressed with the bolt 23, in order that all four latch members for the upper and lower corners ot the two doors are simultaneously moved to latching position. Furthermore, the hooks 9 and 15 in swinging into their keepers, will slightly raise the lfree edges of the doors incasso and support the doors against sagging under the weight thereof, and relieving the hinges of the doors from strain. The upper latches thus serve as means for hanging the doors, as well as latching same. When the lever 6 is swung to disengage the hook 9 from the keeper 10, the bar 13 being retracted, enables the spring 17 to swing the lever 12 to remove the hook 15 from the keeper 16, and the bolt 23 in being raised, enables the spring 33 to raise the bolt 30 also, so 'that all Jfour latch members are simultaneously disengaged from their keepers.

The door 5 can then be opened, inasmuch as the lever 12 can readily move from over the bar 8, while the lugs 36 can move from under the lug 35. rlhe door 4 can then be opened after the door 5 has been moved open.

lt entrance must be had through the doors, for unlatohing them and for eXit after latching the doors, no other door being available for this purpose, then, an auxiliary or secondary door can be provided inthe door 5,

by sawing or cutting the door 5 along the dotted line 37, thereby providing an auxiliary or secondary door through which a person can pass when the doors are latched, and in this event, the latch bolt 30 and its parts are eliminated, and the secondary door is locked in any ordinary manner (not shown).

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A latching device for double doors comprising latches for the two doors at the upper and lower ends of both doors, one of the latches being manually loperable, and means for operating the other latches from the manually operable llatch including cooperable portions between the latches of the two doors, so that"all of the latches are simultaneously moved with the manually operable latch.

2. A latching device for double doors,`

comprising latches for the two doors at the upper and lower ends of both doors arranged in pairs, the latches of one `door being manually operable, the latches of the other door having spring means for moving them to releasing position, and means between the latches of the upper and lower pairs for moving the second named latches to latchingposition with the manually operable latches.

3. A latching device for' double doors, comprising slidable latch bolts Jfor the two doors, one of which is manually operable, and lugs carried by said bolts tocontact when the doors are closed for sliding the other bolt with the manually operable bolt.

4. A latching device for double doors comprising a pair 0f latch bolts for the two doors, guides for said latch bolts, one latch bolt being manually operable, spring'means for the other latch bolt to move it to releasing position, and lugs cooperable when the doors are closed carried by two bolts for sliding the second named bolt to latching position with the manually opera-ble bolt.

5. A latching device for double doors com prising two swinging latches, each of which is adapted to be carried by one of the doors for holding such door closed, one of the latches being manually Operable to swing it toand from latching position, and portions movable with said latches and adapted to move into engagement when the doors are `closed for operatively connecting the latches so that the other latch is swung to and from latching position with the manually operable latcl 6. A latching device for double /doors, comprising a pair of swinging latches for the two doors, one ofwhich is manually operable, spring means for swinging the other latch to releasing position, and a slidable bar connected to one latch, said bar and other latch having cooperalole portions whereby the second named latch is moved to latching position with the manually operable latch.

7 A latching device for double doors,

comprising a pair of latch levers for the two doors, means for fulcrummg said levers,

,one of said levers having a handle, spring means for moving the other lever to releas-v ing position, a slidable bar movable with the rst named lever,`the second named lever j and bar having portions to engage one another for moving the second named lever to latching position with the first named lever. 8. A latching device for a double door,

comprising a pair oflatch levers havingv hooks at their upper ends to engage keepers carried by the lintel of the door frame for latching and hanging the doors, means for fulcruming said levers to the two doors, one

name to this specication in the presence' of Vtwo subscribing witnesses.

WIDLIAM A. S'IEl`l+`l*3l\l.y

Witnesses: a

ROBERT R. HAs'rINGs, GoLDm E. REIS. 

